Family Relationships

We believe that men and women are spiritually equal in position before God but that God has ordained distinct and separate spiritual functions for men and women in the home and the church. The husband is to be the leader of the home, and men are to be the leaders (pastors and deacons) of the church. Accordingly, only men are eligible for licensure and ordination by the church. (Gal:3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.; Col:3:18Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.; 1 Tim:2:8-15; 1 Tim:3:4-5, 1 Tim:3:12)

We believe that God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church. The wife is to submit herself to the Scriptural leadership of her husband as the church submits to the headship of Christ. Children are a heritage from the Lord. Parents are responsible for teaching their children spiritual and moral values and leading them, through consistent lifestyle example and appropriate discipline, including Scriptural corporal correction. (Gen:1:26-28[26] Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
[27] So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
[28] Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
; Ex. 20:12; Deut. 6:4-9; Ps:127:3-5; Prov:19:18Chasten your son while there is hope, And do not set your heart on his destruction.; Prov:22:15Foolishness [is] bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.; Prov:23:13-14[13] Do not withhold correction from a child, For [if] you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
[14] You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.
; Mk. 10:6-12; 1 Cor:7:1-16[1] Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman.
[2] Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
[3] Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
[4] The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband [does.] And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife [does.]
[5] Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
[6] But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment.
[7] For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.
[8] But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am;
[9] but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn [with passion.]
[10] Now to the married I command, [yet] not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from [her] husband.
[11] But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to [her] husband. And a husband is not to divorce [his] wife.
[12] But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has a wife who does not believe, and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her.
[13] And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, if he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him.
[14] For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
[15] But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such [cases.] But God has called us to peace.
[16] For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save [your] husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save [your] wife?
; Eph:5:21-33[21] submitting to one another in the fear of God.
[22] Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
[23] For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
[24] Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in everything.
[25] Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
[26] that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
[27] that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
[28] So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
[29] For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord [does] the church.
[30] For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.
[31] "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
[32] This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
[33] Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife [see] that she respects [her] husband.
; Eph:6:1-4[1] Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
[2] "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:
[3] "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."
[4] And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
, Col:3:18-21[18] Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
[19] Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
[20] Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
[21] Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
; Heb:13:4Marriage [is] honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.; 1 Pet:3:1-7[1] Wives, likewise, [be] submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,
[2] when they observe your chaste conduct [accompanied] by fear.
[3] Do not let your adornment be [merely] outward -- arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on [fine] apparel --
[4] rather [let it be] the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible [beauty] of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
[5] For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
[6] as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
[7] Husbands, likewise, dwell with [them] with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as [being] heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
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